Sunday, 13 August 2017

Genealogy Roadshow: Researching Abroad, Day 1

Tuesday was British Isles day with Scottish genealogist Chris Paton giving four talks about researching ancestors from that area. As a majority of my ancestors came from England, Scotland, and quite possibly Ireland, I was eager to hear Chris' talks and pick up some new tips. I have been stuck at a Scottish brick wall for a while now...

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Chris' talks were on British and Irish Newspapers, Scottish research resources before 1800, Irish family history resources online, and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching ancestral crisis. I was most eager for the Scottish resources before 1800, and boy did I learn a lot! I have a long list of websites to check and indexes to search. I feel more confident in understanding Scottish land records too. I also learned that not everything was bequeathed in a Will! I have my Great Great Grandfather William Gow's Will. He died in Scotland in 1874. I will be reading that again with a different mindset. In the final talk, I learned that 'illegitimate' was noted on birth records from about 1855 - 1918. My 2x Great Aunt Jeannie Gow had four illegitimate children (with three different men I believe) between 1889 and 1910.

One of the overarching points of the day was that if you are struggling to breakdown a brick wall and go through it, you might have to go around it...

What we wish we could do. Instead, our ancestors make it
more challenging (and fun!) by sending us on a roundabout.

Aside from the educational aspect, it was great to catch up with my awesome geneamates and meet some new ones. A bunch of us had dinner on Tuesday night and it was wonderful to catch up with Chris. If you have British Isles ancestors and you've got a chance to hear Chris speak - do so! You will learn a lot. Trust me.

Stay tuned for my report on Day 2.

--------As an Ambassador for the event, Unlock The Past kindly gave me free entry. All opinions are my own.